Stanford Indian Controversy Returns

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[![](http://blog.stanfordreview.org/content/images/2010/11/Fighting-Harbaughs.jpg "Fighting Harbaughs")](http://blog.stanfordreview.org/content/images/2010/11/Fighting-Harbaughs.jpg)The t-shirt in question. (http://www.fightingharbaughs.com/)Another [Stanford Indian scandal](http://nacc.stanford.edu/mascot.html) could be brewing on the Farm. This time, the controversy surrounds a t-shirt with an image of an Indian chief that looks a lot like Stanford football coach Jim Harbaugh.

Rob Wellington, a Stanford alum from the class of ’04, has been selling the “Fighting Harbaughs” shirts for a couple of weeks on his website, www.fightingharbaughs.com. Wellington said that the idea for the shirts began with a group of about 10 recent Stanford alums and football fans which called themselves the Fighting Harbaughs. He explained that the current t-shirt was the latest in a series of Harbaugh-related t-shirts, such as one that played off of the Notre Dame logo.

When Wellington wore the shirt to football games, he indicated that he got a “positive response from people,” so the group decided to set up the website. They’ve sold about 60 or 70 shirts in all; of those purchases, Wellington estimated that about a third had been shipped to current Stanford students.

I got a couple of emails from some folks who identified themselves as native Americans – and they found the shirts to be offensive.

The president of SAIO, Lia Abeita-Sanchez, said the following when asked about the incident:

The reaction from the Native community is much the same as it is when we are faced with any other Native American mascot issue: we are not pleased and once more it completely undermines years of combating stereotypical images.